Taste of Sake
by M.infinity
Summary: The 8th division captain stops by his office one last time before heading out to war. He is not surprised by who he finds there. Shunsui gives Nanao something to remember him goodbye. Posted today, for Nanao's birthday. Slight spoilers for ch 314.


**This fanfiction is dedicated to Dragon Bull.  
Thank you so much for reading and editing my story.  
This is dedicated to you.  
(:**

**Written on 7-7-08 for Nanao's Birthday. Might be updated if I find mistakes.**

* * *

Assistant captain Nanao Ise sat behind her desk, her eyes closed and brow furrowed, her head tilted back. Her mind was in a momentary break from the endless papers that flooded the eighth's office. The usual bird cries that would've filled the silence were unusually absent. The only sound came from her pen, which was rhythmically tapping against the polished surface of her desk.

Grudgingly, she pulled her thoughts back before they could wander. She decided she needed to focus on the work set before her, wondering where exactly all this work could possibly be coming from. They were in the middle of a war, damn it; she had more important things to concentrate on.

_Like any of this is going to matter…_ she thought crossly. _In a matter of hours we're going to be fighting for our lives as well as the lives of others, regardless of the completeness of these forms. _

She pulled the first form toward her. The heading read, "In the Instance of Death." Disgusted, she tossed the form into to waste basket. Unfortunately, it didn't get much better from there.

As form after form was angrily crumpled and tossed into the garbage, the frown on her face grew more and more bitter. Words jumped at her from the pages. Phrases like, "Death of an officer," "Preparations for Military Burial," and "Wartime Casualties."

However, she felt a sense of twisted happiness as each form joined its brethren in the metal basket, which was slowly filling to the top and threatening to overflow. For one whose life had almost revolved around papers and organization, she had finally begun to realize exactly how useless the thin sheets were.

She absentmindedly wondered if it would be easier to just set the lot of them on fire. One small kidō spell would do it… She gave a small, bitter laugh: _Nanao Ise_ setting paperwork on fire? Unheard of.

Heaving an exasperated sigh, Nanao stood and pulled the papers out of the bin. Smoothing the crumpled edges, she placed the paperwork back in their original position on her desk. She was about to resume her work when a loud THUNK against the office door diverted her attention.

* * *

Kyouraku Shunsui, the 8th division captain, was a man known to take his time, regardless of the situation. He found that the longer he had to think on a matter, the easier it became to deal with difficult situations.

However, the spirit world was in a state of war, and everyone was expected to finish their duties as soon as possible. The alarm could—_would _go off at any given second, signaling the need to assemble and leave for Karakura town.

Especially considering his current situation, he _should_ be hurrying as quickly as possible. He dropped his eyes to the wooden floor beneath his slow-moving feet, wondering how on earth (or Soul Society) he was going to manage to talk his way out of this predicament.

Caught in his own thoughts, the unusually sober captain didn't notice he had reached his destination until said 'destination,' the office door, collided violently with his muddled head. His straw hat fell to the ground as a puzzled looking Nanao appeared at the doorway.

"Ah, Nanao-chan." He said, somewhat unenthusiastically. "You're just the person I was looking for." He retrieved his hat, and gently ushered her into the office before she could reply properly. He shut the door behind them.

"Who would have guessed, Taicho, that you would find me here, in the office, of all places?" She said skeptically, her eyes betraying her slightly as they flickered to his somber expression to the closed door behind him.

"You're as ice cold as ever, my precious fukutaicho," he said, not one trace of humor in his deep voice. He extracted a paper from the inner folds of his sleeve. He handed it to her with a faintly guilty look plastered on his face.

"What is this?" She asked curiously, accepting the paper from him.

"Orders from old man Yama-jii." He said, refusing to meet her violet eyes.

She didn't answer him, but let her eyes soak in the words written on the page before her. He watched her face carefully, studying her expression to determine how exactly she was going to respond. He saw her eyes narrow little by little as she skimmed further and further down the document.

"What is this nonsense?" She hissed, violently shoving the single sheet of paper back at him. He noticed her hands shaking slightly though her voice did not.

"You won't be coming with us when we are deployed to the real world." He said slowly, though he knew she must've already gotten that from the letter. Hence, she was angry, and dangerously so.

"We need you to stay here and guard Soul Society with a select few others." He let his argument tumble out in a mess of words that sounded even less convincing than when he had told them to Ukitake. He mentally smacked himself for not preparing something more believable.

Outside, the war bell rang, resounding across the Sereitei as a sign that war was, in fact, upon them.

* * *

"You told him to do this." She stated over the clanging of the bell, her hurt eyes finally making contact with his dark brown ones. "You asked him for permission to leave me here." She heard the muffled sound of footsteps running past the door.

"No," he said hastily. "He needed someone capable to stay, and I volunteered you because I trust you with this." The sounds outside became louder, more frantic.

"You mean you need me to stay out of the way." She said bitterly, hand crushing the paper between her fingers. "Just like the time with the General."

"I appreciated your loyalty more than anything." He replied defensively. She took a step toward him.

"But in the end, I still ended up in the way, didn't I?!" She said, hating herself more as each word came out wrong, so terribly wrong, yet so true in her mind's eye. "Why can't you just believe in my skills!?"

"I do believe in you!" He cried. "You are probably one of the stronger vice-captains here in the Gotei 13! And that is exactly why we need you to stay and protect the souls here." He stated lamely, feeling his argument crumble away beneath his feet as her gaze pierced through him stronger and sharper than any zanpakuto could. Just looking into her eyes, he felt himself losing the battle between them before it had even begun. Outside, the speed of the ringing increased, matching the rate of his rapidly beating heart.

"Then tell me why." She continued without hesitation, ignoring the sounds coming from the shinigami outside.

"No." He replied.

"Is it because you think I'm incapable of handling myself?" Her eyes were literally blazing now; he could feel the heat from them spreading like flames throughout the room.

"No."

"Because you think I'd be a hindrance?" There were tears now, just barely in the corner of her eyes.

"No." He repeated for the third time, mind working on overload. What did one say at this point? Was there even a 'right' thing to say?

"Because you think I'd die on you?" Tears were streaming now, running down her cheeks in small rivers, falling with a silent splash to the floor below.

"No, I—"

"God damnit, Shunsui, just TELL ME WHY!" She screamed at him.

"BECAUSE, I LOVE YOU!" Shunsui bellowed back furiously. The words spilled out before he could help it, but they felt so right—so easy to say. It was so easy to admit it not only to himself but to her as well. But no—that would never be an acceptable reason in her book. It would be just another of his 'lies' to cover any true motif he had for holding her back. Honestly, he himself didn't have a clear explanation for his decision.

So why? Why would he say such a thing? He had never said those words to a woman before, yet he felt—no, he knew in his heart that he meant it. But no—it was not the right time for such things—or was it? He had always believed in, 'no better time than the present.'

He turned his thoughts back to Nanao, standing motionless less than a foot from him. Her mouth was slightly agape; her eyes frozen with shock, the angry energy that had previously filled her seemed to be dispersing.

"I—I love you." He repeated quietly, though with more firmness behind his voice. She stood frozen before him, for once at a loss for words.

"Y-you're drunk…" She stuttered after a pause. It was Nanao's scapegoat excuse out of any awkward situations concerning her pink-clad captain.

"That's quite a possibility," he said, taking a step toward her. "Or, I could be completely sober." A noticeable tremble traveled down his usually stern fukutaicho's back as he closed the distance between them.

* * *

When 3rd seat Tatsuhusa Enjyouji knocked on the 8th division office door not five minutes after the alarm had been sounded and received no answer, he became slightly suspicious. Usually, Vice-captain Ise would have replied instantaneously. This time his timid knock had been answered only by silence. According to his (in his own mind: superior) reiatsu sensing abilities, she was, in fact, inside the office.

He eventually worked up the courage to enter, finding Ise-fukutaicho standing bewildered in the center of the office floor, her hair unusually messy and glasses on the verge of falling off her nose. After several attempts to talk to her, and receiving no reply, Nanao finally moved.

Her body unfroze: her mind had finally caught up. Nanao's frown returned; her brow creased slightly as she pushed her glasses up her nose. She gave one small snort of disbelief, and walked away from Enjyouji muttering only one sentence under her breath:

"Gods, he even _tastes_ like sake."

* * *

**End Note: Hope there weren't too many mistakes or 'out-of-character' moments. I understand it was overly-dramatic, but I wouldn't have it any other way. The idea has been sitting on my head since we were (spoiler) informed that the captains arrived at Ichigo's hometown (and Nanao wasn't there.)**

**Drop a review; it would make my day. **

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